The joy of reading aloud
‘If we all read aloud each day, the world would be a better place,’ Philip Pullman has said. He’s preaching to the converted, as far as I am concerned: my 10 year-old and I studiously ignore the fact he can read perfectly well by himself in order to go on working happily through books together [...]
Music making intense experiences for people with dementia
On a day when it has been reported that if Alzheimer’s were a company, it would be bigger than Wal-Mart, I’ve been to Wigmore Hall to look at a scheme that seems to be improving the lives of people with dementia and those who care for them. Music for Life is hardly on a scale [...]
The secret of youth: flares and orange carpet
And lo, Liz arose from her wheelchair and walked, and it was all down to the swirly-patterned wallpaper. The BBC’s The Young Ones concluded last night with the housemates undergoing a series of tests which purported to show pretending you are living in 1975 can make you fitter, better at remembering things and generally more [...]
Falling apart, stylishly
‘I like being old at least as much as I liked being middle aged and a good deal more than I liked being young,’ Jane Miller writes on the first page of Crazy Age. It is an encouraging start, promising a thoughtful, individual and particular take on ageing. A former English teacher and professor at the [...]
Come to our ‘what is the point of retirement?’ event
Here is the invitation to Agebomb’s NESTA event on October 5th. Please do sign up!
If not for old people, we wouldn’t have society at all, says Minister
Last night I went to see David Willetts speak about his book The Pinch and the ideas behind it, courtesy of Policy Exchange. Willetts is always an interesting politician – thoughtful rather than ideological, and exhibiting a fascination with the detail of demographics that is both impressive and slightly exhausting. The evening really came alive [...]
Inspiring grannies wanted
Is there anyone over the age of 65 you could listen to for hours and hours? My friends Amanda and Elizabeth, who together make up A+E, are on the lookout for individuals who have the kind of accumulated expertise you can’t get from reading Wikipedia and who are capable of telling you about it in [...]
The nightmare of selling things to old people
Advertisers and marketing people have trouble targeting older consumers, because old people just aren’t very aspirational. No one looks at an old person and thinks: ‘I want to be like that! Now!’ Older people, though, are increasingly taking up an inconveniently large space. They make up a greater proportion of the potential market than ever [...]